When Life Changes Yet the World Moves On
by Cloud-Dee
Summary: Arthur is dead and Merlin feels like he has died with him. But the world moves on and there are still stories to tell. He may mourn his king but it is his duty to protect the kingdom until Arthur can return to it again. It is not yet over for him. Because one day, Arthur will come back. This is the story of how the story ends. And maybe...how a new one begins...


When Life Changes Yet the World Moves On

When Arthur dies, Merlin mourns for three days. Three sunrises he sits and watches the oranges and reds of the new day sky seep out across the water, thinking morbidly to himself that it looks all too much like blood.

Three early morning skies he watches, the bright blue too much like the eyes he knew so well and the dew drops on his face mingling with tears.

Three darkening skies he watches, observing as the light leaves the world, just as it had left the eyes of the one he had vowed to save.

Three nights, Merlin cries himself to sleep by the banks of the lake, curled up on the cold shore, knowing only one final truth. That_ he_ was gone. And Merlin was alone.

When the three days are up, Merlin rises, joints creaking from lack of use and muscles screaming in protest. Brushing the last of the water from his face (dew or tears, he could no longer tell), he lifted himself to his feet and began the journey back to Camelot.

To him it may feel like the world had ended but to everyone else, the world span on. People worked and laughed and cried and loved. Crops were harvested and taxes paid. The kingdom would continue to thrive through its golden age. He would make sure of that.

Merlin supposed that he could have sped up his journey to Camelot if he so desired. In the wake of his new powers revealing themselves, he was sure there was a whole host of thing he could now do that he would never have dreamed of before. But the physical exhaustion that came with the gruelling trek that would take him back to Camelot felt too good to miss. When he was moving, working his body into exhaustion, he had no time left to think.

Thinking led to remembering. And remembering was never good.

When, finally, he was once again looking up to the gleaming gates of the city he had come to call home he almost couldn't bring himself to go inside. Camelot could never really be home again. Not without _him_.

But the kingdom still needed him. Gwen, poor sweet Gwen, would have to rule alone now. She would need someone she could trust, someone to advise her and guide he in the hard times to come. And of course, there was magic.

After all these years, he had always assumed it would be Arthur who finally lifted the ban and set him free. But it seemed destiny had played another cruel trick and it was not to be. Gwen, it seemed, would be the one to finally end the war between the two peoples. Somehow, Merlin had no doubts that she would.

The kingdom would always need protecting, always need saving. The knights were loyal and brave but they would always need something more. And it was always going to be Merlin's last duty to his beloved king to protect the land he loved so well, until the day he could return to it again.

OoOoOoOoOoooOoOoOoOo

Three days after Merlin walked back into the city, everything changed.

Returning had been one of the hardest trials of his existence. Nothing but heartbreak awaited him there. Every corner he turned brought on nothing but memories. He could not even find real comfort in the Knights as his best friend, the only person outside Arthur he would have trusted with his life, was dead.

Gwaine was one of the best men Merlin had ever know and he mourned him with a soul deep grief. He had been doomed from the day Merlin had met him, destiny determined to rob Merlin of everything he cared about, but Merlin knew Gwaine wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

Gwen had been a lifeline though. Sweet, caring Gwen, who, when she saw him, had sprinted out across the courtyard and swept him into a bone crushing hug, burying her face in his neck and silently sobbing into her shoulder. Only she had any true idea of the pain he was feeling and they bore it together, two halves whose other half had been stolen from them by fate.

Merlin had expected it would take a long time and a lot of explaining before Gwen would accept who, and what, he was, but all it took was a whispered, "I know" into the skin of his neck barely two minutes from the time he had stepped into the courtyard. She knew and accepted without question and three days later, made the announcement that freed his people.

Many protested, but the tales of the brave wizard, the one who had saved all of Camelot and her armies from the wrath of Morgana, soon spread. It took many seasons, but gradually the people of magic crept out of hiding and finally, there was peace.

Gwen ruled for many years, a fair and just queen who was loved by all. She bore just one child, a son, with hair as golden as a wheat field and eyes as blue as the sky. It seemed that even after his death, Arthur had still left a part of himself behind in the world.

OoOoOoOoOoooOoOoOoOo

Merlin only saw the Great Dragon once more. It was three days after the birth of Arthur's child, that he took his horse and rode out to speak to his friend one last time. They spoke for many hours, about the great king the child would one day grow up to be, and how the kingdom would prosper for many times to come. They spoke of magic and the joy the world felt about finally being in perfect balance and harmony.

They spoke of Athusia, and how it was always the destiny of the white dragon to be slain by the last of his kin. Merlin tried to ask more but the Great Dragon just turned his head and refused to speak again. And Merlin understood. How it felt to be the very last of your kind, to have watched on you love die, and to be so very, very tired.

Then Kilgarrah spread his wings and took to the air, his dragonloard watching him go for the very last time, disappearing into the darkening sky.

OoOoOoOoOoooOoOoOoOo

Morgana's body was never found. Most laughed, joking that she had been eaten by the crows, and that it had been nothing more that she deserved. But Merlin knew differently.

She had been perfectly preserved when he found her again. As a High Priestess , neither the elements nor time would touch her body and she still lay, pale and perfect, where he has slain her. There was no malice or hatred etched on her face anymore, simply a look of peace.

He dressed her in blue, the same deep shade she had been wearing the day he first laid eyes on her, and washed the blood from her skin. He untangled her hair and bathed her hands and feet until she lay, as beautiful and innocent as the day they had first met. Then he buried her in the forest, under the stars and felt nothing but regret. She had deserved her destiny no less than he had, nor had she been able to avoid it. Just like him.

Gwen ruled for many years, her hair turning grey and her eyes lining, until her son was ready to take the throne. Merlin aged with her, her beloved court sorcerer, and on the day Arthur's son was crowned king he disappeared. He has trained enough young pupils to continue his work and magic flourished in the kingdom once more.

The last anyone saw of him was a tired old man, looking out over the shores of a lake.

"I'll wait for you Arthur." He whispered. I'll wait for you.

OoOoOoOoOoooOoOoOoOo

Years later, so many years that all he had loved and held dear had faded into legend, an old man was hobbling along a street, stick in hand and sadness in heart. As he rounded a corner, a young man barged into him, not looking where he was going and laughing with his friends.

"Oh, sorry." He muttered, before grinning and walking away.

His hair was as gold and a wheat field and his eyes were as blue as the sky. The old man watched him go with a look of wonder on his face.

OoOoOoOoOoooOoOoOoOo

Three days later, a young man walked into a city, suitcase in hand, brown jacket and red scarf flapping in the breeze. He gazed up at the massive buildings, the Pendragon Corporation the largest and most impressive of them all.

"Don't worry Arthur." He whispered as a smile lifted his lips for the first time in years. "I waited."

**AN- So after the tragedy that was the last episode of Merlin, I needed to finish everything off. My heart was so broken by how it ended but that last scene gave me hope that everything could be ok in the end. So this was my take on everything that happened after Arthur's death and what could still come. Because the legend is never really going to end is it?**

**Reviews are love!**


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